Nymphidius Sabinus (d. AD 68)

Nymphidius was praetorian prefect together with Tigellinus. When Nero’s fall was certain, he persuaded the Praetorians to abandon the emperor and proclaim Galba. In Galba’s name he promised them 7,500 drachmas a head, that is, 30,000 sesterces (Plutarch, Galba 2). Plutarch writes that this promise could not be kept without harming the whole world.

Then he reached for power himself. The rumor that he was the son of Caligula did not trouble him, although Plutarch notes that his mother’s affair with Gaius probably came after his birth. By night he came to the camp to be proclaimed emperor, but the soldiers declared for Galba and killed him in the camp (Plutarch, Galba 14; Tacitus, Histories 1.5). Galba afterward refused to pay the promised money.